Revival
by Thunderstrike1
Summary: Bruce is back as Batman after his trip to the Lazarus Pits, and Terry is Nightwing, but who else is back? Justice League crossover in later chapters
1. Default Chapter

**_Disclaimer_**: Batman Beyond and all of the characters that appear in it are owned by Warner Brothers, not me.

**_Timeline_**: This story begins at the end of the episode Out of the Past disregarding the last scene of it. In BB continuity, it is before "The Call" and "Return of the Joker"

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**Revival **

May 25th 2040

It had been 3 days since Bruce Wayne had been submerged in the mystical Lazarus Pits and endured the final battle with Ra's Al Ghul. The pits had transformed him from a 75 year old man back into a 25 year old stud at the peak of his physical condition. Bruce was fully expecting to regress back into his decrepit old body within a week because he couldn't receive the prolonged treatment that Ra's had received for the last 400 years, but he was soon to discover that he was wrong.

Bruce was standing in front of the display that showed the old costume that he wore 50 years ago when he fought crime as the Dark Knight. He was tempted to put it on and join Terry McGinnis on the nightly patrol, but he knew that his heart problems could resurface in battle, and he didn't want to put Terry's life at risk. Bruce paused for a moment and remembered how frequently Ra's had to use the pits to rejuvenate himself. He realized that Ra's gained 5 years in age every day, and had to make almost weekly trips to the Pits. By that calculation, Wayne should have been 40, but yet he still felt 25. He realized something wasn't right and hurried over to the bat computer to do some research.

It would take a few blood samples, but it was worth it for Bruce. He took some blood and hair samples and inserted it into the computer for analysis. The computer confirmed his suspicions with the diagnosis it printed out on the screen.

Subject - Bruce Wayne

Sex - Male

Age - 25 years old 275 days, 16 hours 47 minutes.

Health problems – None

Rate of aging – Normal

Bruce looked at the screen in amazement. He clicked onto the Internet to do some more research on the Lazarus Pits to see if it was possible for him to go the next 50 years until he returned to his old self. He clicked onto a mythology website, which told him that multiple exposures to the pits cause rapid aging, but they were good for a one time use. A rare smile appeared on his face. The real Batman was coming back for good.

At that moment, the current Batman drove the batmobile into the cave under Wayne Manor. Ace, the Great Dane of Mr. Wayne barked loudly and got up from his spot next to his master's side to greet McGinnis. Terry looked at the pleasant state of his boss and decided to comment on it. "You look happy today. Did you take some Prozac or something, or did someone assassinate all of our enemies when I wasn't looking."

Wayne decided to fill his young apprentice in on the details of what he had just learned. Terry was in shock. He was not ready to give up the batsuit after the events of the last year in exchange for a wimpy Robin costume. The urge to fight crime was still strong in him, and Bruce could sense the apprehension in him. He had listened to Terry complain about becoming Robin during the entire episode with the Lazarus Pits.

"Relax, I'm not going to make you the new Robin, in fact there will never be another Robin after that night 40 years ago which I don't want to talk about. I've got a lot of money in a private account devoted strictly for Batman related expenses. 20 years of no use caused it to gain a lot of interest which allowed me to make a lot of new purchases." Wayne walked over to a rocky wall of the cave and pressed a spot on the wall to open up a hidden chamber, which unveiled a new motorcycle, a new boat and a new costume, along with an endless supply of accessories.

Terry recognized the costume. It was almost like his batsuit only it was modeled after Nightwing. It was completely black with a green falcon across the chest and shorter pointy ears. The suit had wings too that were green instead of red. Where the original costume simply had an eyemask on the face, this new suit featured a full mask to cover the face, similar to Batman's. Terry thought back to the time where he used the old Nightwing mask to disguise himself when he went up against Robert Vance who had taken over the batsuit. He remembered the stories that Wayne used to tell him about Dick Grayson and how he was treated as an equal when he was Nightwing and not a sidekick after their falling out. He also wondered what happened to Robin 40 years ago. If he did his math right, it would have been Tim Drake's tour of duty during that period. "At least it ain't bird boy. Is everything the same in that suit?"

"Everything from the cloaking device to the rocket boosters to the batarangs."

Terry was relieved, although he was upset that he was losing his Batman identity, but he understood what it meant to the old man. Old? What was he talking about; the guy is only 7 years older than him now. Then another thought crossed his mind. "What are you going to do about your appearance? People will become suspicious that you suddenly found the fountain of youth."

Bruce paused to think for a moment. "I hate to do it, but I have to come out and say I have a son, write him into the will and eventually fake my death. I have the technology to do it, including the hologram projector that can show my old body. Plus I'm going to have to start dyeing my hair. Curse Ra's for leaving this gray streak at the bottom."

Terry laughed at that last comment, but then realized the bigger picture. "Ouch, that sucks to have to kill yourself but still live as an imposter."

"Superman has it just as bad. He's an 80 year old in a 40 year old body." The two men looked at each other and reflected on their fellow defender.

"So when do you start work again?" Terry asked.

"Batman returns tomorrow night, Bruce Wayne Jr. takes over control of Wayne-Powers the morning after."

"Maybe I can get some time off to spend with Dana."

"Don't count on it. Ask Dick and Barbara how much free time I gave them."

Terry groaned at Bruce's response as he walked out of the cave and got ready to go home for the night.

May 26th 2040

"OK Bruce, I want answers!" An angry Barbara Gordon came storming into the batcave. She had seen the press conference earlier in the day where an old Bruce Wayne disguised as Terry who used the hologram projector and a voice altering device to deceive the press introduced his new "son" who would be taking control of the company. Barbara had known Bruce her entire life and knew that there was no son. She gasped when she saw Bruce and Terry suiting up to go out on patrol. "The Lazarus Pits!" she realized. She had been on the phone with Wayne the other night discussing the events. She had wanted to see the man she was attracted to 40 years ago when she was a college student who was fighting crime as Batgirl.

"The effects are different for me Barbara. I'm back for good, I just hope we can have the same relationship that I had with your father."

"I'm not my father!" She snapped back. "You are lucky that I haven't thrown you and the kid in jail yet." Ace started to growl at the commissioner, who gave him a mean glare that caused him to back down.

Terry moved to defend his boss and mentor. "You heard the man commish, he's back for good, and you know him better than I do. There's no stopping the guy. Besides, I've saved your life a bunch of times already."

"Very well," she sighed, "but if you keep crossing into Police business, I won't hesitate to throw the book at both of you. The difference between my father and I is that I know who you really are. Don't you forget it."

"Come on Nightwing, we have a city to patrol." I'll have to get used to that name Terry thought to himself as he hopped on the new batcycle. Barbara stood dumbfounded as the new Dynamic Duo exited the cave. "Close the door behind you." Batman yelled as he closed the hatch to the batmobile. Ace wagged his tale and watched his master leave.

The first few hours of patrol had been uneventful. It seemed like crime had taken a night off in Gotham. Batman was becoming impatient, because he wanted to see some real fighting action for the first time in 20 years. He was standing on the roof of one of the new buildings that belonged to Wayne-Powers. Nightwing was off in some other sector of the city getting similar results. Batman was just about ready to call it a night when he heard the cracking of glass and the sound of laughter. He used the binoculars in his visor to see some Jokerz breaking into a Jewelry store. This was the action he was waiting for. He fired the grappling hook and jumped down toward the scene of the crime. He preferred the old fashioned methods of jumping around the city, as opposed to the wings and rocket boosters that Terry had liked.

One of the Jokerz could sense something wrong when he felt a cold draft come through the broken glass window. His friends were filling bags with diamonds, gold, rings, and anything of value they could get their hands on. The lone Joker turned his head and saw eyes coming from the shadows. "Uh, guys, I think we have company." The Jokerz turned their head to see Batman emerge from the shadows, but this wasn't the Batman they were used too.

"Hey Bats, have you been working out?" One of the Jokerz decided to comment on Bruce's obvious muscle mass. He was far more built and had broader shoulders compared to Terry and the stretched the suit out well, but fortunately the suit was made from a very flexible fabric, so there was no damage to it. Batman remained silent as the Jokerz looked at him and prepared to attack.

The Jokerz pulled out their laser guns and opened fire on Batman. He rolled out of the way and got up and struck the nearest Joker who was one of the smaller members of the group. One of the tall muscular clowns decided to charge him head on. Batman landed a right uppercut to the jaw of his charging assailant. Two more attackers tried to knock him down from behind with metal bats, but Batman turned and released a strong kick that sent one joker flying into the other. "You kids are stupid for mimicking a person like the Joker."

Nightwing suddenly burst onto the scene and knocked out the tall Joker who had regained consciousness and was about to attack Batman from behind. All four clowns lay unconscious on the floor of the jewelry store. "A little rusty. Looks like you missed one" Nightwing commented.

"I knew he was there, you just got him before I could. Now tie them up for the police. I think we are done for the night." Batman could tell that he still wasn't quite yet at his top level, but a few weeks in the gym could cure that problem. One of the Jokerz who landed in the shadows regained consciousness and snuck out through the back without being seen.

A few hours later, the young criminal returned to his hideout to report the news of the botched jewelry heist. A lone figure in the darkness listened to this report. "I knew it was only a matter of time before the batsquad multiplied after watching today's news. No matter, the plan will still go on as scheduled, we'll just have to be extra careful now with more crimefighters out there. No one will stop me from retaking this city."

May 27th 2040

"Hey McGinnis, I heard you got demoted" Max Gibson commented to her friend who was standing next to his open locker inside of the hallway at Hamilton Hill High School. She was the only one of Terry's classmates who knew what he really did after school. "It's all over the net, Nightwing returns and Batman bulks up. I can't believe the old man actually decided to put on the suit again."

"Tell me about it Max." Terry let Max know about what happened the last few days. He hadn't talked to her since he told her about going to the Lazarus Pits for the initial treatment. "The only reason I'm staying on is because I've become addicted to the power like he did. I'm turning into him."

Terry realized what he was saying, and knew that it was true. The suit was an addiction for him. It was his way of making up for what he was like a few years back when he was a common petty thug who ended up in juvie for being a thief. It was also his way to avenge his father's death. He knew whom the man responsible for it was, but the last he saw of Blight was in the sinking nuclear sub. His thoughts were disrupted as his girlfriend Dana Tan walked up to him and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Penny for your thoughts? You look like you have a lot on your mind." Dana had always been very patient and understanding with Terry. She knew what he had once been and was very happy to see him get his life in order, but there was still this shroud of mystery around him. He was always busy at work, even late at night when Mr. Wayne shouldn't need his services. What was he doing there? She had vowed to herself that she would find out one day.

"Oh you know Terry, he's a business man working for 2 bosses now." Max was always trying to cover for Terry around Dana, so she was always ready with a quick reply before Terry could even move his mouth. A smile came to Terry's face. Max had saved his butt many times, but he felt that he had to make a move. "Dinner and a movie tonight Dana?"

Now she was the one smiling. "I'd be delighted." The three friends walked toward the lunchroom to grab a lunch during their break.

Over at Wayne-Powers, the new Bruce Wayne was meeting with his Board of Executives for the first time. He had a lot of proposals on the table to renovate the face of the company and turn it back toward the ideals that he believed in when he was in full control of the company. His first motion was to change the name back to Wayne Enterprises. He wanted to disassociate the company from the Powers family, who made Lex Luthor look like a saint.

Most of the old-timers on the Board agreed that he was the same type of man as his "father." Little did they know that they were the same person. Bruce had been thinking about taking back his company before his rejuvenation. He had seen Derek Powers been exposed as the radioactive villain named Blight and he saw Paxton Powers collection of stolen artifacts. He knew that those two were not meant to run his business, and that only one man could do the job right, and he had the full support of the Board who smiled, nodded and applauded to his every proposal.

Later that night, in an abandoned Air Force base, outside of Gotham City, a glowing form could be seen watching the Evening news on the television in an empty airplane hangar. The newscaster was announcing the changes that Bruce Wayne was making to his company and the city. The form was Derek Powers, also known as Blight; he was a walking nuclear bomb. The intensity of the radiation that he gave off doubled as his temper flared. "How dare that little bastard take over my company!! I should have killed his father years ago when I had the chance. I vow to kill Bruce Wayne, his lousy son and Batman!" Blight put on a long trench coat and a big hat to conceal his form and walked out of the hangar on his mission for revenge.

Terry was taking advantage of his rare free time to spend it with his girlfriend. The couple decided on going to the local pizzeria on Main St. for a meal. They took a seat in a booth next to the window. "You know Terry, I can't remember the last time we had a night like this."

"Yeah, with the old man's son around, I can actually get some breaks now." Terry knew he was lying, but he really didn't have to do the butler work anymore since Bruce was more than capable of doing it himself.

"Hopefully they won't have to call you in the middle of the date like they did some other times."

"I hope they won't." Terry could sense something wrong as he took a sip of his soda. He was getting some bad vibes as he looked out the window, as if something bad was going to happen.

Meanwhile Blight was walking down Main St wearing his trench coat and trying to conceal his figure. Many people were too busy to notice the radioactive being walking by them, but the ones who did notice jumped back and just tried to avoid him.

Blight was approaching the pizzeria that Dana and Terry were in. As he walked by, he caught a glance of Wayne's errand boy. "Finally someone for me to take my wrath out on." Blight grabbed a trash can and violently threw it through the pizzeria window. The can shattered the glass and landed right on Dana and Terry's table.

It didn't take long for Terry to realize what caused the destruction. "DANA, DOWN" he commanded. She instinctively listened and dove for cover behind the counter of the pizzeria. "What do you want Blight?" Terry didn't have his suit, but was still ready to take on the man responsible for his father's death no matter what the situation. He looked for anything to block the radiation and grabbed the metal lid of the trash can that was now sitting at his feet.

"I want to watch you fry kid." Blight flared up and concentrated his radioactive energy into a ball. He took the ball and sent it hurtling toward Terry with a force. Terry used the lid as a shield, but the force sent him flying backward into a stack of pizza boxes. A thud was heard as Terry's body broke through the boxes and connected with the wall. Terry instinctively played possum in hopes that Blight would move on.

The plan worked. Blight was satisfied with his work and continued down the street toward Wayne Manor. Some police noticed the commotion and tried to stop him, but Blight's radiation blasts sent them running for cover.

Back at the pizzeria, Terry rose up and checked on Dana to make sure she was ok. "Stay here Dana, I have to get to Wayne Manor and let them know about Powers." She gave a look of protest, but he was already through the glass.

Terry ran out the window and around the corner into an alley. He opened up his cell phone and dialed a number. Seconds later, the Batcycle appeared. Terry pressed a button on the cycle and a compartment opened up with the new Nightwing suit. As he struggled into the suit, he dialed up the Batcave to call Bruce.

"Wayne here."

"Bruce, it's Terry. Powers is back and worse than ever. Watch out he's heading your way."

"Stay back, I'll take him with the Exosuit, Wayne out."

"I don't think so Bruce." Terry put on the Nightwing mask, hopped on the cycle and sped away to catch Blight. Meanwhile, Dana had stepped outside to see where Terry ran off and heard his voice in the alley. She turned the corner in the alley to see Terry as he put on the Nightwing mask and sped away.

'So that's his night job' she thought.

By now, Blight had rampaged his way to the gates at the bottom of the Wayne Compound. Batman was ready in his Exosuit armor as Blight tried to attack the lead fence with radiation blasts but was having no effect. Blight felt the presence of Batman and turned to see his enemy standing next to a tree. "So we meet again Batman, too bad this will be the last time we see each other."

Batman didn't respond. Blight became more enraged and focused a radiation blast at Batman. Batman stood there, as the radiation had no effect on his lead based exoskeleton suit. He started walking toward Blight who was focusing to increase the energy of his blasts. Batman kept walking and was soon close enough to punch Blight in the jaw. The radioactive being was sent flying into the bars of the fence.

Blight regained his ground and realized that he needed to get into a hand-to-hand combat with Batman. He analyzed the Exoarmor looking for a weak spot and realized that the face was the least protected part of the suit since Batman needed to breathe. 'That's where I'll attack' Blight thought to himself. He sized up Batman and lunged toward him in attack. Batman was caught by surprise and tried to toss Blight away as he wrapped a death grip around his neck. Blight put his hand on Batman's face and concentrated his energy through that palm. Batman screamed in pain as he took an intense amount of radiation, but suddenly it stopped as Blight felt himself being pulled away from his victim.

"Lights out Sparky." Nightwing commented as he pulled Blight off Batman and then sent him to the ground with a punch to the stomach.

"I thought I told you to stay back," Batman grimaced weakly.

"When do I ever listen to you, and besides you aren't 100% yet."

"Just what I needed to know" Blight cried as he attacked both Nightwing and Batman off guard with radiation blasts. Both heroes cried in pain as they hit the ground. "I'm going to enjoy finishing you off."

Nightwing reached for his utility belt and grabbed an object and tossed it in Blight's direction. The object released a cloud of smoke that made it difficult for Blight to see where his enemies were. Nightwing and Batman used the smoke to their advantage and landed twins blows on Blight, but there was still no way to slow him down. Batman looked for a lead based object to hold Blight captive and remembered that the gates to Wayne Manor were lead based. "Distract him Nightwing, I have a plan."

"With pleasure." Nightwing moved toward the dazed Derek Powers and gave him another strike to knock him down. Powers came to and got up with quickness and started flaring up once again to attack Nightwing. Nightwing dodged the radioactive blasts and started throwing miniature explosive devices in the area where Blight was standing. He would also get daring and move in for a sucker punch whenever he got the chance. Powers only became angrier as Nightwing enjoyed every minute of the attack.

While this was going on, Batman was using the strength of his Exoarmor and a mini blowtorch to rip off the gate from its hinges. The plan was to get it around Blight in order to block the radioactivity glowing from his body. The problem was that the exosuit wouldn't be able to bend the fence once it was off its hinges because it was too strong.

Nightwing was battling Blight toward a cliff and away from Wayne Manor. He was still on the offensive, but he was running out of explosives. He threw his last one directly at Blight and then dove for cover as the blast sent him to the edge of the cliff. Blight was on the very edge and realized that it was a 200 foot drop to the rocky waters below. He waved his arms as he tried to regain his balance. Nightwing threw a bolo around his legs which was sending him backwards over the edge. Nightwing then fired one of his grappling hooks around his arm to bring him back from falling off, but Blight's radiation melted both ropes, and he went falling off the cliff.

Batman came with the fence just in time to see Blight go over the edge. He ran to the edge to look over the cliff and saw Blight 50 feet down clinging to a branch for dear life. Batman pressed a button on his belt and the Batmobile came hovering over him. He used the rocket power boosters to propel himself into the bottom hatch. The hovervehicle flew down the side of the cliff. Inside the Batmobile, Batman pulled one of the levers and a metal arm came out from underneath the vehicle and attached itself to Blight. Batman's voice boomed through a loudspeaker "Don't struggle unless you want to fall to your death"

Blight struggled, but the metal arm tightened its grip around his body. He tried using his radiation to melt the arm, but it had no effect. He began to feel himself being lifted through the sky as the Batmobile flew away. The buildings went by in a blur as he flew through downtown Gotham. The next thing he noticed was the Gotham State Penitentiary. Barbara Gordon and an army of officers in lead suits were standing by as Batman dropped Blight into a lead containment unit.

He was furious that he was imprisoned inside the unit and tried to get free. Barbara Gordon just looked at him. "You're going away for a long time Powers. We went through your files that Mr. Wayne gave us, we know everything."

A little while later at the Batcave, Terry and Bruce were recovering from their battle. They both felt a little weak from the amount of radiation that they took, but otherwise they were fine. Terry was running through a gauntlet of emotions. He was happy that Derek Powers was now behind bars, but would have rather have seen him die. Terry came real close to sending him off the cliff, and knew that Blight's radiation would have caused the ropes to melt anyway. Bruce could sense trouble in his young partner, because he went through the same feelings himself 50 years ago.

"It doesn't get easier kid." Bruce told Terry.

"How do you know?"

"I've been there, remember. At least you get to live knowing that your father's killer is behind bars."

"It doesn't make the pain go away."

"Nothing will ever make that pain go away."

"I should have let the bastard plummet to his death when I had the chance"

Bruce quickly stood up. "DON'T EVER SAY THAT! If killing is the only way for vengeance, then you make yourself no better than Derek Powers."

"I know, that's why he's alive and rotting at Arkham."

May 27th 2040

It was a sweet Saturday, a day without school for Terry McGinnis. The clock read well past noon as Terry slept the morning away. He was awoken by his ringing cell phone that sat on his nightstand next to his alarm clock, which was bruised after Terry smashed it when it went off at 8 AM. He had forgotten that it wasn't a school day and didn't take the alarm off.

"Hello?" a groggy Terry moaned.

"Rise and shine McGinnis" a chipper Max answered.

"What do you need? Can't a guy get some sleep around here?"

"Quit complaining Terry, you promised you'd come with me to the computer expo at the convention center."

"Crap, forgot all about that. Ok, let me shower and grab a cup of coffee. I'll meet you in a half hour."

Terry waited on the corner with an iced cappuccino in his hand. The weather was too warm for a hot beverage. The shower and beverage had totally refreshed him and he felt like a new man. Max came hurrying down the street.

"You look a lot better than you sounded a half hour ago."

Terry laughed as they started walking to the convention center. "It's a wonder what a good night sleep, a shower and caffeine can do for a teenager."

"Congrats on your victory last night."

"Yeah, whatever...." Terry trailed off as he mumbled.

"What's wrong, I though you'd be happy that you finally have Blight locked up?"

"I guess the feeling of closure just isn't as great as I thought it would be. I was happier when I thought he died in the sub meltdown."

"Time heels all wounds, McGinnis."

The two friends arrived to the convention center, which was swarming with all kinds of people. There were full-fledged computer geeks who eagerly moved from booth to booth in order to find the best new system. There were rich businessmen who looked for the best deals for their corporation, and then there were the hackers like Max who looked to stay ahead of the game.

The center of the convention was a new macrochip that was being unveiled by Star Labs. The chip was the most powerful one ever created and could make any computer run a million times more efficient. It was capable of operating any satellite or computer.

Terry wasn't much of a computer geek, so he found it hard to be as excited as Max was as she looked at all of the new models. He seemed to stare off into space as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Bruce standing there. "What are you doing here?" Terry inquired

"Looking to see if anything will work in the cave? You? I figured you'd still be asleep."

"Very funny. I'm here with Gotham's greatest hacker."

"WHOA! Is that who I think it is?" Max took notice of Terry's 'friend' and saw the two men chatting. Terry nodded to confirm her thoughts. "You're looking damn good Mr. Wayne"

"Uh, thanks, I guess." Bruce blushed a little. It was hard taking complements from women again because of his physical appearance.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sounds of gunfire and broken glass. A group of heavily armed Jokerz showed up. "Ok nobody move. We're here for the macrochip."

"Find cover Max" Bruce whispered as he and Terry slipped toward the backdoor.

The Jokerz wasted no time breaking through the protective case and grabbing the macrochip. They had already gotten the chip in their clutches when Batman and Nightwing came charging in.

The clowns immediately opened an assault of gunfire and laser beams on Batman and Nightwing who ducked behind a table for cover. They removed their batarangs and threw them to disarm the thieves. The disarmed Jokerz realized their predicament and threw a bunch of smoke bombs before dodging out of the convention center. Another Joker fired up at the catwalk causing it to fall in-between the heroes and the entrance, damaging many of the displays in the process.

When the smoke cleared, the Jokerz were long gone. The damage was immense, and some people were injured either from smoke inhalation or the fallen catwalk. Batman and Nightwing ran to the exit to search for the crooks, but their attempts were futile.

A few hours later, the Jokerz returned to their hideout with the stolen bounty. The mysterious figure congratulated the kids on a job well done. "My plan is going nicely, not even the Batfinks will stop me now."

One of the Jokerz questioned the mystery man's motives. "Why are we goin high-tech when its credits that we could use. If you are who you say you are, then you'll tell us your plan."

A shot rang out from a gun in the mystery man's hand killing the inquisitve youth instantly. "No one questions the Joker!" The other Jokerz cowered in the corner. "Take out the trash kids, your good ol' Uncle Joker has great plans for the demise of Batman and the control of Gotham."

To Be Continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Revival Chapter 2

Bruce was once again pulling his late hours sitting at the computer trying to figure out what the Jokerz wanted with the macrochip. 'This doesn't make sense he thought. There has to be something more that I am missing'.

He also had other important things on his mind. There would be a formal dinner event next week to celebrate his ascension into the business world for all Waynecorp shareholders to attend.

As he sat at the computer trying to contemplate the Jokerz move, a sensor went off alerting him that someone or something was coming in through the cliff entrance that was used for the various flying machines that were used in the past.

Bruce recognized who it was. An old friend had come to visit, and there was no mistaking his figure. "Welcome back to my home Clark."

Clark Kent, also known as Kal-el of Krypton, or Superman to the people on Earth had arrived to visit Batman. "Bruce" he said extending his hand in friendship. "It's been such a long time." Superman still maintained the physique and dignity that he was known for. His face had shown some signs of aging. There were traces of gray in his hair, and a few wrinkles were appearing around his eyes, but he was still just as strong as he was 40 years ago.

Bruce took his hand. "What brings you to Gotham?"

"An invitation, back into the Justice League. J'onn monitored the news and told us about your situation. We'd love to have you back. We need you."

Bruce had expected this, but he really never considered himself part of the league. He was only in it to protect his own interests. Patrolling Gotham was still his top priority. "Thanks, but no thanks Clark. If you need me, you'll know how to contact me, but I'm still not accepting a fulltime membership into the league."

"I understand Bruce. You will always be welcomed to the watchtower." Superman gave him one more handshake and was preparing to leave the cave when he heard someone else enter the batcave.

"Is that Superman?" Terry's face was in awe at the sight of the world's greatest hero.

"So this must be your partner. Nice to meet you kid. Watch out for the old man, he'll get you into trouble." Superman flashed a smile and left the cave.

"What was that all about?"

"Politics." Bruce muttered as he turned his attention back to solving the mystery.

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The next night, Terry was talking to Dana on the phone before he was getting ready to go to "work." She had seemed very distant ever since the incident with Blight at the pizzeria, as if there were something troubling her. They were talking about finals and the usual teenage social dramas that were going on, but Dana just wasn't her usual perky self.

"Terry, we trust each other right?"

Terry could see the red flag right away and knew that he was walking on thin ice when she asked a question like that. He knew he had to be careful with his answers. "Of course we do babe."

"Then if something were going on in your life, you'd let me know?"

"Like?" Terry asked. He was hoping that she didn't find out about his affair with Melody. He put it in the past. He had cared for the girl, but they were on two different paths and would never meet.

"Well, your job. You are always there late at nights. What do you do at midnight?"

"Just the usual stuff. Mr. Wayne is a night owl, and he likes to do research, so I'm usually there making sure he doesn't hurt himself getting a book from his library. You know how frail old people can be."

"Yeah, I guess." She was disappointed that he had just lied to her. She had wanted to hear him say 'I'm really a costumed superhero, which is why I've been neglecting you so many nights, but I really want us to be together no matter what.' Still, she felt that learning his secret would actually benefit their relationship in the long run, because she admired him even more for what he had become and she now felt that he was truly an honest and brave human being.

"Dana, you know I love you. If anything important happens in my life, you'll be the first to know." They said their goodbyes and Terry hung up the phone. He wished that he could have told her the truth, but he didn't want her to be a target for anyone who might want to get revenge on Batman or Nightwing.

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A few days had passed, but still no leads for Batman. He tried to push down every street punk and clown that he could get his hand on at night, but it wasn't like the old days. Whatever was going on was top secret, and the only thing to do would be to wait for their next move.

It was now the night of the big gala at Wayne Towers. It was in Bruce's honor as he came to make a speech to his shareholders and to the public about what he was going to do with his company. Photographers snapped their cameras crazily as Bruce exited his limo. Terry parked around the side, but had an uneasy feeling. He was wearing his Nightwing costume under his suit in case something was to go wrong.

There were also many dignitaries present, including the Mayor, Commissioner Gordon, and her husband District Attorney Sam Young, all were people who admired Bruce Wayne and all that he had done for Gotham City.

Bruce arrived at the podium on the stage and began to deliver his speech. "80 years ago, my grandfather set out to create an enterprise built on truth and integrity. My father ran the business for 50 years after my grandparent's unfortunate murder, and now I hope to continue where my father and grandfather left. It is my hope that...."

Suddenly, a distinct and familiar laughter filled the air at the gala. Bruce and Barbara immediately recognized it. Their faces were in shock. It couldn't be. He was dead, they both witnessed his demise. "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. Brucie, I'm backkkkkk."

A cloud of smoke appeared on the stage and when it dissipated, the Joker was standing there. Barbara Gordon took action and ran for the stage, drawing her gun in the process. People began panicking as some Jokerz also came onto the stage carrying guns. The crowd dispersed and headed for the exits while Terry ran to another room to change into his costume.

"You? Who are you?" Bruce asked the Joker.

"C'mon Brucie, you don't recognize your old friend? We had so many good times together in the good old days." The clown still had the same cocky, demented attitude. This Joker was wearing a black sweat suit as opposed to the purple tuxedo that he donned 40 years in the past. His hair was also shorter and worn straight down.

"No it can't be, the Joker is supposed to be dead!"

"A little gunshot couldn't kill me." Now Bruce knew he was talking to the genuine Joker, or at least someone who knew the events of that evening.

Barbara jumped onto the stage armed and ready, but some of the Jokerz cut her off and created another standoff. Just then, Nightwing came bursting onto the stage to confront the Joker.

"Oh goody, the gang's all here. Now all we need is Birdboy and we can have a full happy reunion. Kids, take down these fools." The Joker commanded.

The Jokerz opened fire on Bruce, Barbara and Nightwing. Bruce and Barbara ducked for cover behind a table that was close to the stage. Nightwing leaped with the help of his rocket boosters and got into the air. He tossed his batarang to knock the guns out of some of the Jokerz hands. The Jokerz that lost their guns decided to go and attack Bruce and Barbara. They jumped off the stage, and Bruce got into a fighting stance.

The clowns tried charging him, but Bruce tossed them aside. Barbara held her gun as a warning to the clowns that they shouldn't attack, but one of them snuck up behind her and knocked the gun away. She threw her fist back and knocked the hoodlum in the face, but her strength had faded with old age. The clown put his arms around her and got her into a body hold. Bruce saw his friend in trouble and pulled the assailant away.

Nightwing fought the Jokerz tough. Their guns were no match for him as he confused them by going invisible with his cloaking device. Soon they were all disarmed. It didn't matter now, because they chose to use brute force as any means necessary to take him down.

Meanwhile, the Joker was enjoying the scene greatly, even though his enemies were winning their battles. It had been a long time since he got pleasure out of a battle with Gotham's caped crusaders. Soon all of the young Jokerz were defeated and left licking their wounds. Nightwing, Bruce and Barbara surrounded the Joker looking for answers.

"Aww, you guys are no fun, but those who live to run away, get to laugh another day." With that phrase, the Joker released a cloud of purple gas and vanished before the smoke disappated.

"What was that all about?" Nightwing asked.

"A bad dream come true" Bruce replied. "He shouldn't be alive"

"I'm as shocked as you are Bruce. We both saw what happened that night." Barbara commented.

"What night?" Terry asked.

"It doesn't matter, all that matters is that he's back." Bruce answered.

"Yeah, but I still need answers so that way I know what we are dealing with." Terry snapped back

"We are dealing with nothing. I'm handling this one solo." Bruce commanded.

Terry was shocked. Barbara's face showed a look of concern. "Please reconsider Bruce. You can't handle this psychopath by yourself."

"I've done it many times Barbara, I can still do it."

"But he knows our secret."

"It's an obstacle that I'll have to pass"

-----------------------------------

Terry sat in the batcave wearing his costume with the mask off trying to figure out why Bruce didn't want him involved in the Joker crisis. Terry knew there was a history between Batman and the Joker, but Bruce really never mentioned it. He decided that he had to do some investigating and headed over to the computer. He typed up a search engine and began his quest for answers.

In his search, he came across many articles about the Joker threatening the lives of the entire city before being foiled by Batman. There was one article that listed over 100 people that were killed because of the Joker. Terry realized that this was no ordinary crook that he was dealing with. Unfortunately, Gotham's laws prevented the death penalty, and the Joker kept finding ways to break out of the Arkham asylum.

The last dated article he saw was titled "Joker missing for 2 weeks, is Gotham safer?" Terry clicked on the link and saw that it was from 40 years ago. He read with interest and was shocked by what he had saw. Robin had been out of action for 4 weeks while Batman and Batgirl teamed up. The Joker was also gone for 2 weeks. Was there a connection between what Bruce had told him when he handed him the Nightwing costume? Terry didn't have time to ponder it, because Batman walked into the cave.

Bruce took notice of what was on the screen. It still pained him to read articles like that one "Doing some research?"

"Yeah. There's a connection between Robin and the Joker, isn't there?"

"Yes. It's a long story."

"Well lay it on me. I know it's not my battle, but I know this clown is dangerous, and I can't let you do this by yourself. You had both Robin and Batgirl to help you in the past, now you have me."

"Very well. It all began 40 years ago. Robin, Tim Drake was on his nightly rounds by himself. Batgirl and I waited for him to meet up with us before heading back, but he never showed. Barbara and I searched non-stop for 2 weeks straight, but there were no signs of Tim. Finally, we came across a package. It pointed us to search the old Arkham asylum. When we got there, we realized it was a trap. The Joker and his partner Harley Quinn had kidnapped Tim, and brainwashed him. During his torture, Tim told them everything. They knew all of our secrets. In the resulting battle, the Joker had me down and was about to have Tim finish me, but he turned the gun on the Joker and shot him dead. Harley Quinn was also lost when she fell off a cliff while battling Batgirl. Tim had to go through years of therapy to recover. He never wore the Robin costume again. The Joker was dead, and we had moved on with our lives, until tonight."

"Bravo, a very touching story if I must say!" Batman and Terry turned their heads and realized that the cave had been invaded. "It's a surprise that you haven't changed the security codes to the cave after all these years Brucie."

Terry pulled on his mask and got into a defensive stance. "What do you want clown?"

"To watch you laugh." The Joker tossed a canister of gas toward Batman and Nightwing.

"GET AWAY!" Batman ordered. "That's poisonous laughing gas." Both Batman and Nightwing dove in opposite directions.

"Spoilsports. I guess I'll to do this the old fashioned way." The Joker pulled out a handgun and started firing away at Nightwing. He got off a few shots, but the gun was knocked out of his hand by Batman's batarang. Joker then reached inside the duffel bag he was carrying and threw some live grenades. One of them landed near the batmobile, another landed near the display case featuring the old uniforms, and another landed near a computer that was used for some experimental analysis in the laboratory.

They all went off simultaneously creating a huge explosion and a large smoke cloud. When the dust cleared, the batmobile was destroyed, the costumes were reduced to shreds, and a portion of the lab had been decimated. The Joker was nowhere to be found.

Batman went over to the computer to check the cave sensors and saw that the clown was gone. He then immediately changed the passwords to everything that hadn't been updated in the last 40 years. "He's toying with us."

"What makes you say that?" Terry asked.

"He wouldn't have given up so easily. He's working on something big, and just wants to annoy us before he strikes."

----------------------------

The next day, Max and Dana were hanging out at the mall. Dana and Max were both friends, and they were both close to Terry, but Dana knew Max and Terry had a strong friendship while her relationship with Terry was more romantic. She felt that maybe Max would know Terry's secret, so she wanted to try and find out what she knew.

Dana was trying to figure out how to break the ice. "Max, do you ever notice Terry acting strange?"

"Of course, he's a regular clown when he wants to be."

"Not that kind of strange. I'm talking about mysterious and how he's hardly around."

"Its just part of his job. He works for the richest man in Gotham. Of course he's going to be busy. He went to Africa with Mr. Wayne last month." Max knew something was going on, but she promised to keep Terry's secret. Still she wondered if Dana suspected something. Max knew about Terry's other relationship with Melody. She was the only person who knew. "What makes you so curious anyway?"

"I just suspect that there's more to Terry's life then meets the eye. That's all."

'Yup, she's on to something' Max thought. I'd better give McGinnis a heads up.

-------------------------

Batman and Nightwing decided that they had to take a strike against the Joker. They went searching through every known Jokerz hideout to find clues to the Joker's whereabouts. They got into many fights with the clowns who tried to defend their turf, but they were inexperienced when it came to violence and were easily moved aside.

Both heroes searched all night, but nothing turned up. The Joker had concealed his hideout well, and was staying underground while working on his evil scheme. Meanwhile, Commissioner Gordon was working on her own leads. She got some horrible news when a missing person's report was filed. The name on the report was Timothy Drake. She decided that she had to let Batman know right away.

She didn't need a batsignal to find Batman. She took the easy approach and called his cell phone. "Bruce, it's Barbara." She said solemnly.

"I'm kind of busy right now. I'm staking out a Jokerz hideout."

"I got bad news. Tim is missing."

"What?!?!" Nightwing was also standing on watch and knew something bad had to have happened, just based on Batman's reaction. It had been many years since Bruce and Tim met. They distanced themselves once Tim recovered and moved on with his life. He raised a family and had a career while Bruce struggled to let go of Batman.

Batman knew there could only be one person responsible for Tim's disappearance, he needed to investigate it.

After a brief stop at the Commissioner's office to get the file, Batman and Nightwing went to Tim's last known location – the telecommunications plant that he worked at. Tim had become interested in communications once he learned to open up in his therapy. He wanted to work on satellite signals to make data transfer easier so that way texts and signals could be sent faster through the internet and other mass media. He became very successful at what he did and was a top technician.

Batman and Nightwing moved through the darkness and converged on the gigantic outdoor satellite that Tim was last seen working at. They looked everywhere for clues and came across an empty can. "Knockout gas." Batman muttered. The Joker had definitely taken him captive

--------------------------------

Terry decided to take a night off from the hunt and take his girlfriend out on a date. He had been neglecting her a lot recently because of the Joker situation. They weren't any closer to finding him, and he was beginning to feel like the search was useless. Besides Max had told him that Dana suspects something.

The young couple went to one of Gotham's trendiest dance clubs. They danced together on the floor for what seemed like hours, but in reality was just a half hour or so. Terry was feeling the fatigue from his late hours starting to set in, but he was ready to go after a few shots of caffeine. Little did he know he was being watched.

Elsewhere, the Joker was watching through a surveillance camera, as his plan was about to unfold. He turned around and saw a weakened Tim Drake look on in horror, as a group of terrorists who called themselves the "Cobra" were about to attack the unsuspecting crime fighter and his girlfriend.

"Just like old times, isn't it Birdboy? Who needs kids when I can get snakes to do the job. Now about you..."

To be continued.....

Author's Note: Chapter 3 will be delayed for a few weeks


	3. Chapter 3

Hope you've liked the first two chapters so far, sorry about the last one being short.

Revival Chapter 3

Batman was getting ready for his search for Tim Drake. It had felt like just yesterday that he was doing the same thing. He lost contact with his old sidekick, but he still worried about him. He didn't want the Joker to torture him again like he did 40 years ago. It still pained him to think about those long nights where he wondered where Tim could be. Drake was like his son, just like Terry had now become another son for him to watch over. Batman would do everything in his power to save Tim this time.

The Joker's bombs had destroyed the batmobile during his batcave visit. The high-tech car had to be replaced; it was left in ruins. Bruce had already put in the call to the special Wayne Corp engineers to start construction on another Batmobile. These were special scientists that were sworn to secrecy and paid high salaries. They were told to get the hovervehicle done as soon as possible. It would probably be a week to 10 days before they completed the task, which would seem like an eternity in the current situation. His top scientist was also a member of the Justice League, but he was away on a mission at the time.

For transportation, Batman turned to his old Batmobile. He kept it on display in his batcave museum. He got into the car to see if it would start. The engine gave a few sputters and then roared to life. Batman drove it over to the exit and got ready to go out on his mission.

----------------------------

Terry yawned as he danced on the floor with his girlfriend Dana. "I think I need to sit this one out beautiful" he said as he made his way over to a nearby booth. She looked disappointed in him, but understood his reasons. He wouldn't tell her the truth, but she knew he was Nightwing.

Dana sat down next to him and he put his arms around her. She looked for a waitress moving around the club and caught one walking by. "Get this man a Red Bull." She ordered. The waitress quickly returned with the energy drink, which Terry began to drink from. After a few more minutes, he was ready to go again, and they returned to the dance floor.

They continued dancing again when Terry was suddenly pushed to the ground from behind. He got up to see who attacked him, and saw that it was the kobras. There were 10 of them in a gang, all dressed in the same green snakeskin uniform that covered most of their bodies except for their mouths and chins. "What do you snakes want?" Terry snarled in anger.

"Orders from our friend say we make your life miserable." The head of the gang responded.

"Leave him alone!" Dana yelled in protest. The crowd became aware of the situation and recognized the kobras who were well-known terrorists. This caused some of the club to panic and evacuate, while others continued to party, oblivious to the dangerous situation that was unfolding on one part of the dance floor.

A deafening slap was heard as one of the kobras knocked Dana to the ground. Her head hit the floor with a loud thud. Terry saw this and couldn't react fast enough, by now he was enraged and ready to make the snakes pay. He got to his feet and began swinging at whatever his fists could reach. The kobras backed off and formed a circle around Terry with Dana's lifeless body lying on the side.

Four of the kobras launched an attack from each side of Terry. He leapt in the air causing the first two to run into each other. The next two backed off while their bruised comrades crawled away, and then went into a hand-to-hand combat with Terry. One attacked from behind, but Terry turned to toss a punch to knock him down. He turned back to the front and was met with a strong uppercut to the jaw by one of the kobras. Terry could taste blood, but he wasn't going to let it stop him. He took the kobra's arm and twisted it, causing it to snap and break.

This time three more charged him, and overwhelmed him; one of them used their foot to come down on the back of Terry's ankles. This caused the teen to fall to the ground where the others began kicking him on all of his sides. Terry could feel the darkness begin to take over, but he wasn't going to give in.

Suddenly a ringing phone interrupted one of the kobras. He answered it and ordered his allies to stop the attack. They left and took Dana's limp body with them. As they exited, they fired some gunshots in the air causing the rest of the club to evacuate in terror.

-------------------------------------

Batman was hard on the trail of a Joker who he had recognized. It was one of the clowns who helped the Joker launch the attack at the dinner banquet. Batman was just about to attack him when the communicator on his uniform went off. He wanted to ignore it and take the clown youth down, but instinct told him to answer the call. He knew it could only be Terry or Barbara.

"Batman here." He waited for an answer

"Brrruuccce" Terry answered in a weakened whisper.

Batman recognized the voice of his sidekick and realized that he was injured. "McGinnis? What's wrong where are you?"

"Club Eclipse….. attacked .. by kobras…. they worked for…. the Joker…. they took Dana…" with his last breath, Terry relayed the information to Batman before collapsing on the empty dance floor.

"Hold on, I'm coming to get you." Batman didn't want to let his prey get away, so he kept his eye on the joker while talking. He knew that Terry's time was short, so he fired a tracking device that discreetly landed on the clown. Batman then headed in the opposite direction back to the Batmobile. He needed to get across town as soon as possible.

Once he reached the vehicle, he hit the gas and drove at record speeds to the club. He burst through the doors and saw Terry lying on the floor. Batman instinctively got down to check his pulse. There was one, but it was a little weak. Terry's eyes opened when he felt the presence of someone. He smiled at Batman before closing his eyes once again.

Batman carried his apprentice out to the batmobile and drove back to the batcave. He needed to do a full examination on Terry, but judging from what he had seen, there were no broken bones, which was a good thing.

As he carried him out of the vehicle upon entering the cave, Ace came over and licked the hand of the semi-conscious Terry. The Great Dane could sense that his friend was hurt. Batman laid him down on the medical table and began his diagnosis. A full scan showed that Terry had a bunch of bruises, a few fractured ribs, and a cut on his lip. He might also have a slight concussion, but it was too soon for the machine to tell. He'd make a full recovery with rest. Batman injected him with some pain killers that helped ease Terry back into sleep.

Batman knew he had to get back out there and track down the Joker, but he couldn't leave Terry alone. There were only 2 people that he could call for assistance - Terry's friend Max, or Commissioner Gordon. He knew that the Commissioner would be too busy tracking down Tim, so Max would be his only choice. He was reluctant to let a known hacker like Max into the batcave, but it would be the safest place to stay, and he had a feeling that he could trust her.

After a quick phone call, Max was on her way. She was both excited and concerned. Concerned for her friends health, but excited that she was finally going to see the batcave that she had heard so much about. It only took her twenty minutes to get to Wayne Manor. Bruce greeted her at the front gate and led her to the clock entrance for the cave.

Her face was in shock as she walked down the steps and caught her first glimpse of the massive hideout. She saw all the computers and felt like a kid in a candy shop. She was anxious to look at each one and see what it was capable of, but she knew she had to restrain herself.

Batman put his mask back on and hopped back into the batmobile. "Don't touch anything" he told Max. She stuck her tongue out at the exiting vehicle and then turned her attention to her resting friend.

-------------------------

Batman punched up the tracer on the Batmobile computer and started searching for the Joker that he had planted it on. He was just getting a fix when he looked to the sky and saw a familiar signal. It was the batsignal that Commissioner James Gordon had used on numerous occasions to summon Batman. It hadn't been used in years since that Commissioner Gordon had retired.

Batman headed toward the source of the beam, which was in its usual place on top of police headquarters. He parked the batmobile in a dark alley near the building and traveled the rest of the distance by using his rocket boosters and wings to propel him up through the shadows.

He watched cautiously to see who signaled him. He knew it couldn't have been Barbara, because she would have just used a phone call. It was definitely someone else. He looked through the shadows and saw an aged black man. He recognized immediately that this was District Attorney Sam Young, the husband of Barbara Gordon.

Batman emerged from the shadows and approached the DA.

Sam Young was caught by surprise by the sight of the Batman. "I thought you wouldn't come" he said. "I need your help." Batman remained silent as Young continued talking. "It's my wife Barbara" the attorney paused, a look of fear on his face. "I think she's been kidnapped."

Bruce's eyes widened in shock under his mask. 'Not Barbara' he thought. He immediately knew there was a Joker connection without even having to look at the crime scene. "What makes you think this" Batman asked, even though he probably had a feeling of the answer.

"I came up to her office this evening, because she had been working so hard on the Drake case. When I came in, she was missing, and the office was in shambles, as if there had been a struggle. Papers were all over the place, and then there was this:" Young answered handing the Batman a card.

The card read "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA" in purple ink. It was definitely the Joker's calling card.

"I'll do everything in my power to find the commissioner" Batman said solemnly. He was gone before the DA could turn his head to thank him.

-----------------------------------

Inside the Joker's lair, the villain looked at his captives who were tied to chairs. There was Barbara Gordon who was defiant as ever and willing to do anything to get revenge on the Joker. Dana Tan had awoken, but was still groggy after being knocked unconscious in the dance club by the kobras. Timothy Drake was also captive, but he was separated from the two women, as if he were being singled out.

The Joker walked over to Drake and looked him in the eye. The Joker had a rare serious look on his face. "Listen up birdboy, I have a project for you, and you're going to do it."

"What if I refuse?" Tim spat. He didn't want to help the Joker in any way after the torture he put him through.

"Then I'll do to them what I did to you" He answered glancing toward Barbara and Dana. An expression of horror came across Tim's face. He couldn't bear to see his good friend and an innocent teenage girl suffer through the same tortures that he had.

Tim bowed his head in regret. "I'll do what you want." The Joker began laughing evilly. A look of disappointment appeared on Barbara's face, while Dana's showed fear. She didn't know what the Joker would do to them.

------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Batman had finally resumed his tracking of the Joker who he planted the device on. He was hoping that he wouldn't be interrupted this time by any other disasters. The blip indicated that the teen was near Gotham Harbor. Batman followed the signal and abandoned the batmobile to investigate where it was leading him too.

The signal indicated that the youth was in an old abandoned warehouse along the wharf. Batman turned on the cloaking device in his suit and slipped through an open window. He walked along the catwalk above the floor and could see some Jokerz sitting at a table, playing cards. They were fooling around and having a good time. Batman used the microphones in his suit to listen to their conversation.

"Man, this new Joker is great. He's really been abusin Bats. It's going to be great when he finally takes control of the city."

"I heard he got the commissioner held hostage."

"I heard he's workin on some sort of Doomsday device." 'A doomsday device?' Batman thought. 'That couldn't be good.'

Batman listened for some more, but he was suddenly interrupted when a Joker wearing infrared night goggles hit him from behind. The hit sent him falling off the catwalk and knocked his cloaking device off. He recovered in time to break his fall, but he now found himself surrounded by the group of Jokerz.

"Lookie here guys, it's the Batman. Lets make him bleed." The Jokerz charged Batman with a variety of clubs, bats and chains. They started swinging right and left with their weapons, but Batman got out of the way. He fought back and sent the teens flying across the warehouse floor. Some of the youths pulled knives, but Batman grabbed one of the fallen chains and whipped them out of their hands.

Soon most of the Jokerz were lying on the floor moaning in pain. Batman grabbed the one that he was tracking. "WHERE IS THE JOKER?" Batman said in his interrogative voice.

"Uh, I d-d-dunno" the youth stammered.

Batman lifted him higher by the collar. "WHERE IS HE?"

"I still dunno." Batman fired his rocket boosters and took the teen up to the catwalk and held him over the ledge.

"I'll ask one last time. WHERE IS HE?"

"We don't know, honestly. He calls us when he needs us. We haven't seen him in person since he came here last week." The boy feared for his life and tears began to flow down his cheek smearing his joker makeup.

Batman pulled the joker back from the catwalk and left him there. He exited through the window and returned to the batmobile.

----------------------------------

Batman was fuming as he drove in the batmobile. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find the Joker, and now his friends lives depended on it. He needed the Joker to slip up soon.

"Batcave to Batman, Batcave to Batman." Batman's thoughts were interrupted by the batmobile radio. He recognized Max's voice on the other end.

"What is it?" he answered.

"I think you're getting some sort of transmission. I'm trying to send it over to you, but I'm not sure how."

"Flip the green switch and press the blue button." Max listened to the instructions and did as she was told.

Soon the same transmission appeared on the screens in the batcave and the batmobile. An image of the Joker's face, along with his captives appeared on the television. "Greetings Batman. It's your old buddy Joker just giving you a call to say hi. You are missing a great party here." Batman remained silent as the Joker gloated.

"Awww, you don't want to talk? Well, just so you know, I'm working on my little death ray. Try and stop me, and your precious friends get hurt."

"You hurt them Joker and I'll make sure you stay dead this time."

"Tsk, tsk. No need to get all sour. I'll call you when I'm ready to invite you to the party, oh and you can bring the kid if my kobra pals didn't pound him into a coma." The screen went blank.

-------------------------------

Batman returned to the batcave to examine the Joker's transmission for clues about his location. He paused the screen and examined the background. It looked like he was in a warehouse, but there were thousands of warehouses in Gotham. It could be any one.

Max looked at the screen to and tried to help the detective solve the mystery. "That place looks pretty rundown." she noted.

"Yes, he could be in the historic district. I fought to preserve that area when Derek Powers wanted to tear it down for development. It's the area where my parents were killed."

"I know where that is." Batman and Max turned their heads and saw Terry hobbling over to the screen. "Look over Drake's head." They both looked and saw 'TM' scratched into the wall. "It's the place where me and Big Time used to hang out when we were breaking the law. It's the abandoned warehouse on 10th and Smith."

Batman changed the screen and brought up a map of Gotham City. He knew the area well, but he wanted to look for the best access into the building. He zoomed in on the actual building location and typed some commands into the computer. Soon he had the floor plans for the building.

Terry pointed to the basement. "We hung low back then. The cops never checked the basement, they were only concerned about the main floor."

"Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah" Terry said, putting on his Nightwing costume. "I'm coming with you."

"I don't think so. You need rest."

"My girlfriend is there. I'm not taking no for an answer." He pulled the Nightwing mask over his face and was ready to go.

"Fine. Max, stay here just in case we need some assistance, and once again, don't touch anything."

Batman got back in the batmobile while Nightwing put on a helmet and hopped on one of the motorcycles. Two engines roared to life as they sped out of the cave toward the warehouse where their friends were being held captive.

--------------------------------

Batman and Nightwing arrived at the warehouse. It looked unusually quiet from the outside. Nightwing led Batman around the back to a side entrance just off of an alley. They kicked open the door and took a defensive stance. Terry winced in pain under his mask; he was still hurting from his encounter with the kobras. Nothing. There were no guards or booby traps present.

The two heroes slowly walked in the door. It was poorly lit, and there was little light coming in from the outside since it was still late at night. They were quiet, trying to listen for any noise, but there wasn't even a mouse present.

Batman followed Nightwing over to a side staircase. There was also an elevator in the middle, but they did not want to take it in fear of tipping off the Joker that there were intruders present.

Once again, they approached the stairway cautiously, quietly opening it up in search of guards. There was still no sign of life. The stairs turned around a corridor leading downward. Batman led this time with a batarang opened in his hand as he peeked around the corner. The coast was clear.

This time, they decided to barge right through the door leading to the basement. They barged right into the Joker's lair, or rather his abandoned lair. There was no one present. The only furniture that appeared was a few empty chairs, and some computer equipment. They had been tricked.

Batman went over to one of the computers to look for clues when one of the monitors turned on by itself. The Joker's face appeared once more with his evil grin sending chills down Nightwing's spine. "Sorry kiddies, I knew you'd come looking for me here, but I decided to move my base to a less bat friendly location. I did leave you a nice present though. Happy Birthday Brucie!"

Suddenly, large metal gates came down from the ceiling blocking off the elevator and stairway entrances. A large package then popped up from an underneath compartment in the middle of the room. It was 2 feet tall and wrapped like a present, and was emitting a slow beeping sound, counting down the minutes or seconds until it detonated. Nightwing went over to investigate, but Batman already knew enough about the Joker to know that it was a bomb.

Batman looked all over for an exit. He took one of his explosive batarangs and tossed it at the metal gate blocking the entrance to the stairs. There was a small explosion, but no damage. The batarang barely pierced the outer layer of the titanium alloy that was blocking their exit.

"The vents!" Nightwing pointed out. There was an opening about 10 feet off the ground on the left-hand wall, very close to the ceiling.

"We got to move now!" Batman commanded as the beeping from the package started to intensify. Nightwing leapt and grabbed the metal grating that sealed off the piping. He yanked and fell back as the grating came with him. Batman picked him up in mid-air and got to the vent entrance. It was a fairly large vent, about 3 feet in diameter. Both Batman and Nightwing got on their knees and crawled for dear life. They could see the end of the tunnel when the bomb went off.

A fireball rushed through the vent as the entire building began to shake. Batman and Nightwing were ejected from the passage as flame emerged behind them. The blast sent the two flying halfway across an empty sandlot that was behind the warehouse. Nightwing moaned in pain once again as he received his second hit of the night. There was a touch of pink to the sky as dawn started to break.

Batman helped Nightwing to his feet as the building started to collapse from the fire. Nightwing looked on at the destruction of a place associated with the dark chapter of his life. He was glad that it would no longer be there as a reminder of his dark side.

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The two heroes returned to the batcave, bruised and battered from their adventure at the warehouse. Max was sitting at one of the computers, looking at files on the Joker. Bruce was going to protest her being at the computer, but he didn't have the energy to complain.

"Are you sure it's the same guy that you are dealing with?" she asked.

"Almost positive, even though it seems impossible." Bruce answered.

"Did you match the prints?" Bruce paused for a second. He hadn't done that, because he was so certain he was dealing with the authentic Joker. Only the Joker would know his real secrets. Or would he?

Bruce went over to where the lab stood and took out a fingerprinting case. It had been undamaged from the Joker's grenades. He went over to the area where the Joker had stood during his assault on the cave. He remembered seeing the Joker touch the giant coin that Two-Face had used. It took some precision, but Bruce was able to find the prints.

He brought up the Joker's prints from file and compared the two. There was a distinct difference. This wasn't the same Joker.

"A twin perhaps?" Terry questioned

"Or clone. Fingerprints can't be duplicated. Definitely not a robot." Bruce replied.

"You two should get some rest." Max declared.

"Not now, we just made a major breakthrough. We need to investigate this further."

"It's 6 AM on a Saturday morning. You won't get many answers, because no one will be out."

"She's right. I think I'm going to crash upstairs. I'm still not feeling right after the attack." Terry commented. "I just hope my mom doesn't worry."

Max yawned too. "Yeah, it's been a long night. I think I'm going to head home."

Bruce looked at her. "You can stay too if you want. I could use an extra pair of eyes later when we investigate the prints."

The three people exited the cave and headed to different bedrooms in the Wayne mansion.

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The clock beeped to signify the changing of another hour. Terry opened his eyes and looked at it. 6 PM. He had been asleep for almost 12 hours. The headache has subsided, and his side was feeling a little better, although there was still a lingering pain. He decided to raid the kitchen for a quick snack and then head down to the cave to see what was developing.

Terry walked down the steps and saw 2 new people. One was a tall older African-American man with long dark hair, and the other was a balding white man with a noticeable gut.

Bruce was talking to them, while Max was listening. It looked like a meeting of the minds.

The African man noticed Terry and motioned over to him while talking to Bruce. "Is that your new partner?"

"Yes. Terry McGinnis, I'd like you to meet Virgil Hawkins and Richie Foley. You might know them better as Static and Gear. I called them in after they got back from their league mission to help us find the Joker."

Terry was astonished to see the two heroes. He remembered reading how they helped Batman when they were just teenagers learning the ropes, but evolved into two of the league's most prominent members after years of service.

"How ya feelin kid?" Gear asked. "Batman told us about the beating you took."

"I could be worse. The physical pain is going away, but there's still the other pain. Any news?"

"The Joker still hasn't made his move, but Gear analyzed everything he stole and has figured out his plan. He's going to use satellites to create high-powered laser beams that can shoot down from space and destroy any object on Earth. We already put the Watchtower on high alert, so Superman and Green Lantern are ready to attack the satellite if and when it strikes."

"Have we found his location yet?"

"No, but we suspect that he's using Drake to build the device for him."

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Meanwhile at the Joker's lair, Tim Drake was close to finishing the Joker's evil machine. He had been working for the last 18 hours with almost no rest, but he knew the technology well and was quick with his production. He knew that there would be consequences if he stalled.

The Joker looked over Drake's work with his usual evil smile. His plan was working perfectly, and he knew exactly where he wanted to test the ray first once it was operational.

He punched up a satellite image of Wayne Manor.

To be continued….

Author's Note: Sorry for the really long delay. Midterms, and then video games sidetracked me. I promise to work more on this and have it up sometime during the Christmas break.


	4. Chapter 4

Wow, has it been 5 years since I wrote this? I wrote most of this chapter back then, but figured I'd finish it and post it. Maybe there will be more chapters after, but I kind of wrapped up the arc here. If anyone was waiting 5 years for this, I apologize deeply, and to any new readers, I hope you enjoyed.

Revival Chapter 4

The Joker watched evilly as Tim Drake was putting the finishing touches on his machine. It appeared that Drake was typing some commands into the programming.

What the Joker didn't know was that Drake's commands were really a distress signal being sent out to whoever would receive it.

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The collected heroes in the Batcave were trying to decide where to search next for the Joker. Batman, Nightwing, Static and Gear were gathered together in hopes of stopping the Joker and rescuing his hostages. They were just about to set out when Gear's Backpack started beeping. He put down his visor to decipher the information.

"I'm getting a distress signal. Please help, Joker holding hostages, little time left."

"Can you trace it?" Batman asked.

"Yeah, I have the location locked and I'm trying to home in on it." Gear walked over to the computer and brought up the map of Gotham. "He's here."

"The Gotham Joke factory. Figures." Terry muttered.

"Lets go" Static shouted. He took out his flying disc and magnetized it as he lifted off the ground.

"Max, its best if you head home. We can use the Watchtower as our base now. Plus, the Joker could target the mansion at any moment." Batman told her.

She nodded and headed to the cave exit.

"And take Ace with you for safe keeping." Batman added.

"Great, my parents are going to love me when I come home a day late and with a dog the size of a horse." She laughed.

The heroes left the cave through their various sets of travel. Batman took out the Batjet, while Terry hitched a ride with Static. Gear used his rocket boots to fly to the target.

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The Joker looked at his surveillance cameras around the city and noticed the group of heroes heading toward his base. He looked at Drake and saw the distress signal that he transmitted.

"Aww shucks. It seems someone invited Batman and his friends to the party. I guess we'll have to send them a welcoming committee. The device better be finished now Birdboy."

"Forget it Joker," he retorted. "You're done once Batman and the League gets here."

The Joker pulled out a gun and pointed it at Barbara Gordon's head. "You have 60 seconds to make that machine work or I'll paint the walls with the Commissioner's brains."

Tim recognized defeat and started finishing the machine as fast as he could. Barbara's face showed panic and urgency.

"57, 56, 55…" The Joker counted down as Drake frantically typed in some code and readjusted wires on the computer.

"33, 32, 31…" Beads of sweat started falling from Drake's face. His friend's life was at stake here, and if he failed, there's no telling what the Joker would do. In fact, there was no telling what the Joker would do even if he succeeded.

"9,8,7.."

"Done. It's ready for your use" Drake said solemnly.

"Well done," the Joker said pistol-whipping him out of the way. A Kobra guard took Tim Drake and tied him back up next to Barbara and Dana. "Now lets see what this baby can do." The Joker set the coordinates to intercept the approaching heroes.

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Nightwing was admiring the scenery as he flew through the Gotham sky with Static on Static's magnetic disk. Batman flew overhead in the jet while Gear flew alongside. Nightwing looked up and saw the sky reddening in one spot. "Is that supposed to do that?" he asked Static.

"NO! It's the Joker's laser. Take evasive action!" he commanded the others.

Nightwing jumped off the disc and spread his wings, using his rockets to soar through the sky. The beam intensified as it fell through the atmosphere and into Gotham.

It centered on an office building that Batman was about to fly over. He veered the jet to the right as the building began to rumble before exploding to the ground. People on the streets ran in panic. The laser beam stayed on the ground and started moving toward Batman's jet. Batman turned to the south and headed for the harbor to avoid serious damage to the city. While flying away, the beam cut a path through the street blowing up cars and ripping up the pavement. It destroyed the elevated train track bridge as an oncoming train was heading to cross it.

Static went over and used his electric powers to slow down the speeding train before it could plummet off of the broken bridge. He used all of his strength to stop the massive vehicle. It finally screeched to a halt, just inches away from the gap.

Gear and Nightwing meanwhile flew through the sky to save pedestrians that were falling after the laser beam cut through various bridges that spanned hundreds of feet above the ground.

Batman was on communication with the J'onn in the watchtower. "Do you have a lock on the satellite?"

"Yes Batman, it's on the other side of our orbit. I have dispatched Superman and Green Lantern to take it down, but it's going to take them about 5 minutes until rendezvous."

'That's too long' Batman thought as the laser beam seemed to be gaining on him. He was almost out over the docks and had about a 100-foot lead on the beam and shrinking. The Joker was definitely out to get him, leaving the others to do the rescuing.

The gap between the beam and the jet's tail continued shrinking as Batman tried to do maneuvers in different directions, taking sharp turns around the harbor. No matter what he did, the beam honed in on the plane and continued its approach. There was now less than 20 feet before impact.

Batman could feel the plane begin to shake as the beam started to engulf the tail. He knew he had to bail out before the plane exploded. Flames were already starting to appear in the back. He opened the hatch as the rushing air started to suck him out. He opened his wings and took a dive down toward the water, and away from the beam's path. He had fallen about a hundred feet when he heard the plane explode. He could feel the debris passing by his head.

There was a solid beam of electricity now being formed at the laser. Static tried to break it apart using his powers, but the beam was too powerful. It started moving toward Batman who had regained his balance and was flying toward the shore.

---------------------------------

Up in space, Superman and Green Lantern had reached the satellite. Green Lantern was a human and Thanagarian hybrid. He was a tall muscular African-American man, but he also had the Thanagarian wings and honored his alien heritage by wearing a winged mask that covered his eyes, scalp and forehead while forming a beak around his nose.

Superman tried to pull the cover off of the satellite casing to pull apart the wires, but he felt very faint. There was kryptonite casing the wires. Green Lantern used his ring to extend his force field to cover Superman who was wearing his spacesuit. The field would protect Superman from the kryptonite's effects. He then used the ring's powers to pull the kryptonite off the casing and send it flying into deep space. Superman began to feel his strength returning and started ripping wires apart, but the beam still kept strong.

"The controls must be deeper within the satellite." Superman told Green Lantern. The satellite was 100 feet tall with a 10-foot diameter. Superman tried using his X-ray vision to assess the situation, but the satellite was made out of a lead based material.

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Back on the surface of the Earth, Batman was fighting for his life trying to avoid the beam coming from the satellite. 'What's taking them so long?' Batman thought to himself. He couldn't fly over land because it would cause a lot of damage, so he had to continue gliding over the water.

Nightwing was done saving the victims on shore and decided to continue toward the Joker's hideout in order to put a stop to it at the source. Gear followed him while Static continued to find ways to disrupt the beam using his powers.

It took a few minutes, but Nightwing and Gear had arrived at the Joke factory, which was a few miles from where they were attacked. The heroes were greeted by a large mob of Kobras and Jokerz who were armed and standing guard on the roof. They started firing bullets and lasers at Nightwing and Gear. Nightwing tossed a smoke bomb down at them to blind his attackers, while Gear tossed down some knockout gas. Most of the attackers fell to the ground as the smoke cleared. The two heroes easily dispatched the remaining guards and walked into the hideout.

Things seemed quiet. Gear looked at Batman's young protégé and wondered how he became Bruce Wayne's apprentice. Gear had met Batman when Brainiac had attacked the Justice League years ago and taken over his body. Even then, Batman seemed like a loner.

They decided on the stealth approach now that they had made their entrance. There was no doubt the Joker was aware of their presence, but it would be easier if they made it through undetected. Backpack was already feeding the schematics of the building into Gear's metahuman mind. It picked up a high rate of data being transmitted from a room in the back of the building, which had to be where the satellite was being transmitted.

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"Enough of this" Superman shouted. He flew down to the bottom of the satellite and started to clamp the barrel of the gun using his super strength. It was coming out of a 2-foot wide hole, so it took all of Superman's strength to reach his arms around and squeeze it shut. Green Lantern watched in amazement as the hole began to shrink.

Down on Earth, Batman noticed the effects as the beam began to shrink. Static's blasts were beginning to have an effect now that it was smaller allowing Batman to gain some ground on the trailing beam.

Meanwhile the Joker was getting upset. He knew there were invaders in his hideout, and the league was putting an end to his plan. There was one other way for him to still win. He pushed a button that changed the content of the laser beam.

Superman continued to squeeze the satellite's gun shut, but he began to feel weak. The beam was emitting the energy of a red sun. He used his remaining strength to shut it, but ran out of energy with the laser only 50 % reduced.

Green Lantern tried using his ring to finish the job, but it had little effect. It wasn't as strong as the Man of Steel.

--------------------------------

Back in the Joke Factory, Nightwing and Gear began to make their move. Nightwing used his cloaking device to move through the hallway undetected toward the back of the building. Along the way he took out a few guards so that Gear could follow without being detected as well.

He drew closer to the door and there was a heavy presence of guards. It was impossible to take them all out without being detected, so he simply walked by them while Gear waited in the shadows. The door to the control room was wide open at this point. Terry figured the Joker would close it if he knew that his enemy was about to walk right through it.

He could see the hostages tied up. Tim Drake looked to be in a little bit of pain while Barbara and Dana appeared worried as they watched the footage of Batman and Static trying to avoid being killed by the Joker's laser. Nightwing saw that the machine that was sitting next to the video screens was controlling the laser. Nightwing had to move quickly, because he could sense that the Joker was onto him.

Nightwing quickly threw an exploding batarang at the machine just as the Joker fired an electrical gun in Nightwing's direction. The machine exploded as the electrical cords interacted with Nightwing's suit, frying his circuits and causing him to pass out once again.

Dana gasped when she saw what had happened to Terry, while Barbara and Tim were secretly hoping that Batman would soon be here now that he no longer had a death beam on his trail.

Gear heard the commotion and decided there was no more waiting. He made his presence known and started fighting his way through the Jokerz and Kobras that were standing on guard.

----------------------------------------

Static released one last energy wave and the laser beam dissipated. Batman flew over to him and regrouped. "Guess I got it" He smiled at Batman.

"More likely Superman and Green Lantern took out the satellite."

Up in space Superman and Green Lantern look puzzled as the satellite stopped emitting the laser beam. Green Lantern used his ring now that the satellite wasn't powered and summoned enough energy to send it out of orbit and hurling toward the sun.

"Lets go down to Gotham. Batman might need backup," Superman decided.

Green Lantern, Superman, Static and Batman all rendezvoused at the Joke Factory. By now the Jokerz and Kobras were waking up from the effects of Gear's knockout gas and got ready to start fighting the assembled heroes.

Their lasers and bullets bounced off Superman who started moving toward them and used his strength and quickness to disarm them. Green Lantern and Static used their powers to disarm the guns while imprisoning them against the wall or in energy bubbles.

They marched into the factory and were met by more guards. The fight continued on, but this time there were more surprises. One of the Jokerz was operating a giant clown robot. Static tried to melt it using his electrical powers but they had no effect, the machine was made out of a rubber and plastic alloy. The machine fired rockets at the heroes. Batman dove out of the way of the blast while Superman took a direct hit. He figured that it would have no effect on him, but he was wrong and was down for the count. Green Lantern tried to deflect another with his shield, but it broke through and sent him falling to the ground.

Batman fired his grappling hook around the robots legs and started to pull to trip it up, but the robot spread its legs apart, breaking the rope that was tying it up. Static meanwhile flew around the machine, trying to distract the driver by firing blasts at the cockpit. Batman glided up the back of the robot and planted an exploding batarang in its midsection before diving out of the way.

There was a powerful explosion and the machine fell to the ground. The batarang was placed right at the battery, so there was no way the machine would come back up. The rest of the room was empty. Static looked at Superman and Green Lantern who were recovering from their injuries and decided to stay with them while Batman moved on.

--------------------------------------------

Nightwing opened his eyes trying to remember where he was. The Joker had just electrocuted him a few minutes ago after stopping the satellite. He looked up to see the Joker looking down on him.

The Joker kicked him in the ribs and Nightwing winced in pain. "Well isn't this nice? Another guest for my party."

Nightwing turned and saw the hostages. Gear had fought valiantly, but he was outnumbered in his battle and as a result was now part of the group. The Joker had stripped Backpack from him and tied him up with the other hostages. Gear looked at Nightwing and gave a quick, secretive wink.

Gear's powers had developed greatly over the years since he fought through the second big bang where he regained his fading powers along with Static. He worked hard on strengthening them and began to develop some telekinesis, as he got older. He incorporated this new power into Backpack so that he could use Backpack even if they were separated.

Nightwing got the message and started to distract the Joker. "What? No party hats? Couldn't we get a better clown?"

"NOT Funny." Joker gave him another kick to the ribs.

Backpack began to silently creep from its spot on top of some wooden crates and worked its way unnoticed up the wall, across the ceiling, and down the wall to the back of Gear's seat and began to cut the ropes binding Gear to the seat.

Nightwing decided to act fast and leaped to his feet, at the same time as Gear broke free and Batman burst through the door.

Joker was shocked at the developments and decided he had to make his final stand. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at Barbara's head.

"You know you loved her Bats, but now she's going to be joining daddy in the big police station in the sky." Just as Joker was about to pull the trigger, a batarang flew and knocked the gun astray. Unfortunately, the trigger had been pulled, and the bullet flew out, striking Tim in the abdomen. He screamed out in agony.

Batman was furious and lunged at the Joker while Nightwing and Gear rushed to Drake's side. Batman started pounding on the Joker with everything he had in pure rage. Blood started dripping from the Joker's mouth. "Go ahead, you know you want to. Finish me."

Batman paused for a second. He never considered killing, but he had to think under these circumstances. The Joker had taken Drake away once, and might have just done it the second time. He had caused so much pain and anger.

"Pussy." The Joker used the pause to pull a knife and slash at Batman's arms. "You never were man enough Batman." He slashed again as Batman backed away in pain. Sparks were flying from the suit where the cuts were being made. "Even now you are holding back. You could have finished me right here and now." Another swipe, this time Batman dodged it. "I know all of your secrets Bruce."

Finally Batman snapped and kicked the knife from the Joker's hands. His arms stinged from the cuts, but he just wanted to continue beating on the Joker. Batman unleashed a total fury on the Joker throwing punch after punch into his body. The Joker's face became bloodied as one of Batman's blows cracked his lip.

The Joker finally fell into unconsciousness as Batman stood over his broken body. He turned and looked as Gear was using backpack to operate on Tim. The bullet was removed, but there was a lot of blood all over the place. Barbara ripped off a piece of her trenchcoat to use as a tourniquet and found a phone in the room to call police headquarters and get an ambulance down as soon as possible.

By this time Static, Superman and Green Lantern had come rushing in to see the Joker defeated and Tim Drake breathing shallowly as he lay in a pool of blood. Superman motioned to pick him up and take him to an emergency room, but Gear stopped him "Wait for the ambulance. If you move him, it might do more damage."

Superman turned to his old friend Bruce. "That was quite a beating you gave him. Now what? He knows your secrets."

"J'onn will have to go into his mind and erase them."

Nightwing looked at Dana who was standing in the corner, still in shock of the events that she witnessed. He wanted to say something to her as their eyes met, but she beat him to it.

"Terry, I know its you."

"Dana.." he started, but didn't finish. She embraced him in a hug and lifted his mask so that she could kiss him on the lips. Terry felt at ease by her touch. He knew that the hardest part of his relationship with her was in the past, and he didn't want to think about the dangers in the future, he only wanted to live in the present where everything seemed so right.

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The Martian Manhunter stood over the captured Joker in a cell at Arkham Asylum, surrounded by Superman, Batman, Nightwing and Commissioner Gordon. He was in a trance as his mind interacted with the Joker's in an effort to erase his knowledge of Batman's secrets.

J'onn came out of his trance and regained his surroundings. "That man is not the original Joker, he is a clone. Whoever created him put a resistance to my powers in there. I can not erase his memories."

"Can you tell me who cloned him?" Batman asked.

"Negative, I can't read any of his thoughts." The Joker let out one of hideous maniacal laughs.

"What do we do with him then?" Batman looked at Commissioner Gordon who was just as much a part of this as he.

"I honestly don't know Bruce."

"That's right Brucie, so what are you going to do with me?"

"We have no choice but to send him to the Phantom Zone." Superman answered.

"For once, I agree with you." Batman replied.

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For the first time in 30 years, Batman was on the watchtower that he helped commission. As a founding member of the league, he was invited back onto the head council that now consisted of Superman, J'onn Jones, Rex Stewart aka the Green Lantern, Static, Gear, and a face that Bruce hadn't seen in that same period – Wonder Woman.

Batman relived his strongest and most powerful romance when he saw her walk into the council chamber. She hadn't aged a day thanks to her eternal youth granted by being born an Amazon princess on Themyscara. Her face lit up when she saw her former lover. She was disappointed when he pushed her away because of the ravages age was taking on him, but now that he was young again, she was hoping that they could renew what they once had.

"Bruce, it's so good to see you again."

"And it's good to see you Diana." Batman was smiling under his mask, but she could not see his facial expressions now.

"I hope you're back to work with us for good."

"My status hasn't changed. If you need me, you know where to find me."

Superman cleared his throat. "Let's get down to business."

He sat down in the center chair and pressed a button. A cage holding the Joker teleported into the room. He had an evil grin when he saw the assortment of heroes staring him down.

Superman stood up and read the charges. "Your crimes against humanity have been grave. You are a threat to the human race and the security of Earth. Normally we'd let you rot in a jail cell, but since you have knowledge about secrets of the members of this league, we have no choice but to banish you to the phantom zone."

He pressed another button and called up the Phantom Zone projector. Using his Kryptonian ability, he opened up a vortex that sucked the Joker in. Batman watched in satisfaction as another chapter of his life was closed.

"Now, onto happier business." Static proposed. "I think it's time we add a new member to our ranks. We all know how much Batman loves us, but there's another Gotham hero that has earned his way up here."

Suddenly, Nightwing was teleported into the council chamber. He had met most of these heroes just hours ago, and was still in awe that he was in their company. Static had told him to be on standby for a trip to the Watchtower, but didn't think it would be under these circumstances

"I'd like to nominate Nightwing for league membership" Static finished.

"Seconded" Gear stated.

"All in favor?" Superman asked. Everyone raised their hands in agreement, even Batman. He figured Terry was adult enough to make his own decisions.

"Welcome to the Justice League." Superman said he has extended his hand.

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Back on Earth a sinister being looked toward the sky. The Joker was gone, but there were still other ways to defeat Batman and the Justice League.


End file.
